Liam Coen On Adjusting to First Draft Process As HC

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen is getting used to his first draft process as a head coach.

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen speaks during a press conference at Miller Electric Center Wednesday, April 9, 2025 in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In the past, Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen had a very clear role in the draft process: help find offensive playmakers.

As an offensive assistant and eventually offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams, and as a coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Coen obviously played a part in the draft process when it came to offensive prospects.

In his new role as head coach, though, things have changed considerably.

Coen has always kept tabs on defense players because, naturally, they make an impression when watching offensive players. But now, he is taking a much more wholistic look at the entire process as he leads a franchise.

“Yeah, I mean, special teams matter," Coen laughed when explaining what he has learned so far.

"I mean, you have to look at the whole, right? It’s starting anew for me in a lot of ways, right, where you’ve been used to evaluating offensive players, and then naturally when you’re evaluating offensive players, defensive players shine, right? You start to see that, and then in recruiting, in college you’re recruiting defensive players as well."

For Coen, he now has to look at the Jaguars' draft process from a short- and long-term point of view instead of simply thinking what kind of receiver or lineman his team is about to add.

"But the whole entirety, how they fit into the puzzle, the vision, what we’re trying to establish, and how those players end up fitting into those situations, it’s different," Coen said.

"It’s just a different perspective. It’s great to listen to the collaboration between personnel and coaching when it comes to some of these meetings. So, it’s been great to listen. I’ve been doing a little bit more listening than talking right now.”

The Jaguars and Coen will need to determine the best path forward as it relates to winning now and winning in the future, which is just another element of the change of his responsibilities as a head coach.

“Ultimately, in this world that we’re in, what have you done lately? What are you doing in the now in order to show success and to show that we’re going in the right direction? So, ultimately, we have 10 picks," Coen said.

"We're going to lean on some of those guys to play early on. Ultimately, we can't be afraid of that. We had three of them in Tampa last year play and have a lot of success for us. We can't be afraid of that moment and to play some young players. So, the goal is to get better, quicker. With having a vision, so having long sustained success, that's important to us. But at the moment, we're looking at winning right now.”

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